Tough luck for runner-up Beljan

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Take Charlie Beljan, for instance. First he wins last year’s Children’s Miracle Network Classic in dramatic fashion while suffering from panic attacks, but – like all Fall Series champions – doesn’t get into the 2013 Masters field. Now, following his runner-up finish at the Northern Trust Open, he is No. 64 on the Official World Golf Ranking going into the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, but isn’t in the field.

That’s because the Match Play field is set one week earlier to allow for players making international travel plans, then seeded based on rankings after the Northern Trust.

A playoff loss to John Merrick moved Beljan up 87 spots from 151st the week prior.

Beljan’s bad luck is eerily similar to that of Ryan Moore last year. Entering the 2012 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Moore was No. 65 in the world – safely in the Match Play field due to the fact that Phil Mickelson was skipping the tournament. But after finishing T-20 at Pebble, he actually dropped to 66th and with no other players withdrawing or failing to show, Moore never made it into the event.

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Sobel has covered golf since 2004 and provides news, perspective and analysis.